Wrath of the Tails Doll
by supercomputer276
Summary: I figured I was already insane. If you reacted to things in my life in the way I did, you would think you were crazy too. Little did I know how little I knew about being crazy.
1. Chapter 1

_Tails Doll © Sega and Sonic Team, although I have no clue whether or not they want to keep him._

**CHAPTER 1**

I was seventeen at the time.

My family was driving home from a road trip to visit some relatives in the state of Washington. My family lived in southern California. Needless to say, it was a long trip. With me in terms of carry-on luggage was my Compaq laptop, a large stuffed Tails toy with one eye missing (the dogs had chewed it off, although I still had what was left), a few DVDs and CDs to watch and listen to on my laptop, and a few of my favorite books for some light reading.

In the southern part of Oregon, we ended up getting lost in a large wood of evergreen trees, despite the fact that I was sure Interstates didn't have intersections. We drove around and wound up running out of gas in front of a small town in the middle of nowhere. It was a most curious town; everything in sight seemed to be a dedication to the Sonic the Hedgehog video games. The townsfolk were even dressed in garments that resembled the characters.

I particularly enjoyed the Sonic series myself. Especially Tails. Tails had been my favorite character since _Sonic 3_, and even after all I've been through he still is.

While my parents tried to find somewhere to ask for directions and my brother checked out the local shops (as he often did when we were on vacation), I decided to take a scroll. No one glanced my way as they passed by me, despite the fact I wasn't wearing their traditional garb. I didn't look too much in detail at them either. Until I saw her.

I was walking past a house when I saw a teenage girl dressed as Tikal the Echidna sitting on a bench. She possessed a stunning figure that made my mouth water. Her long tan hair, tied into dreadlocks flapping gently in the wind, drew me closer to the gate. I questioned to myself whether I was bewitched while I rapped gently on the white picket fence.

She looked up at me. One look into those deep blue eyes and I knew I was in love. She stood up and walked over to me. She introduced herself as Samantha, and after I stopped drooling, I told her my nickname was Yosie. We talked some and I knew learned more about her as a result. She was fifteen and was born shortly before the local oracle appeared to them. She wanted me to come inside and have a snack, but by local custom, I was unable to because I did not possess a costume. After some moments of thought, she told me to wait where I was, ran into her house, and emerged a short time later carrying a Tails costume. She said she was sorry if I wanted someone else, but this was the only outfit of my size that they had. I told her I didn't mind and that Tails was my favorite Sonic character.

She led me to an old tool shed in the back where I could change in private and gave me a plastic grocery bag to hold the clothes I was wearing. The Tails costume consisted of a pair of fake fox ears on one of those band thingies you wear on your head, some blue contact lenses (since my eyes were green), a white shirt underneath an orange-yellow vest, orange-yellow pants with zip-off legs and a pair of stuffed Tails tails sewn on the seat (long enough to be visible, short enough to not interfere with movement), and red and white sneakers. When I showed Samantha the costume on me, she said I looked sexy in it. I'm sure I blushed at the comment.

The inside of her house very nearly the same as the inside of any standard suburban house, except for the overload of Sonic merchandise. We sat at her kitchen table and nibbled on some cookies that were like Animal Crackers with Sonic character heads instead of circus critters while she told me about the oracle. It turns out it was a stuffed Sonic toy a lot like my Tails toy that fell out of the sky one day several years ago. It started the entire worship of the blue hedgehog, and the place quickly filled with Sonic-related items and games. I later learned on the Internet that the doll had fallen from a biplane belonging to a member of the Air Force that kept it as a good luck charm. It had fallen from the plane during a practice run.

After her story was over and the crackers were gone, we took a walk around the town. She showed me her friends and neighbors, the church where the Sonic doll was kept, and several of the local shops. Each one had some form of Sonic motif.

By the time the tour was over, I was so madly in love with this attractive young woman, I had trouble thinking straight (which actually wasn't outside the norm). I knew I couldn't leave without giving her a gift to show my appreciation. Telling her I probably should be heading back soon, I started my little plan. She took me back around to change back into my normal clothes and let me in the shed. Inside, I made some noise that sounded like I was getting out and then called out to her that I was having trouble, and she best come see what was wrong. I hid behind the door as it opened and she entered. When she was in the middle of the shed, I quietly closed the door so she wouldn't escape, tiptoed behind her, and tapped her gently on the shoulder. When she whipped around to see who it was, I wrapped my arms around her and planted a large wet kiss right on her lips. She resisted a little at first in surprise, but soon she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around me. We made out for a full three minutes, during which we worked ourselves down to the floor of the shed and rolled around a little. Sexual fantasies started spiraling through my head, the first time they ever included a real human being besides me. What comforted me most about the situation was that after I confessed my love to her, she did the same.

After we finished having our fun, she waited outside so I could change. Once I finished, we swapped e-mails and addresses so we could keep in touch. We were looking heavenly into each other's eyes when my younger brother interrupted, immune to the feeling of the moment, and told me to come back to the car, as my parents got enough gas to get us to the next service station. I was about to return the Tails costume when she told me to keep it as a souvenir and a reminder of her. I had just enough time to snap her picture with a digital camera before me and my brother left.

Soon, we were back on the road. My brother tried to grill me on Samantha, but I wasn't listening. I was too busy thinking of her. He then pulled something out of his backpack and told me that this would get my mind off her. It was an old, slightly scratched, but still playable _Sonic R_ CD-ROM that he had got off the guy at the store for two bucks. He sure was in a hurry to get rid of it.

I took it. I heard the rumors about _Sonic R_ and how it drove any player that completed it at 100% insane, but I figured I was safe. You see, I figured I was already insane. If you made out with a girl you only met a few hours earlier, along with reacting to things in my life in the way I did, you would think you were crazy too.

Little did I know how little I knew about being crazy.


	2. Chapter 2

_Tails Doll © Sega and Sonic Team. Everything else my Tails-Doll-curse-following mind made up._

**CHAPTER 2**

During the drive home, I installed _Sonic R_ on my laptop. It was hard to play in the car (no one ever bothered to make Interstates smooth anymore), but it was pretty fun. When we finally got home, it was definitely easier to play on my bed, since it was mostly stationary except when some force caused it to rock.

I made a deal with myself to only have three races a day. That way, I figured, it would maximize the enjoyment and anticipation I would have for the game, and with luck, maximize the time before the inevitable came. I got about 3% added up every day.

It took just over a month to reach 99% at that rate. During that time, I talked with Samantha frequently over e-mail. I had the digital photo I took printed and placed in a heart-shaped frame I purchased from a woodworker. My brother kept trying to grill me about her, but I kept mum about it. Samantha was someone I wanted to keep to myself. I was a decent artist; I drew pictures of her and scanned them into the laptop to e-mail to her. With every try, they got better and better.

I decided to leave the game uncompleted at 99%, least I stir the wrath of the curse. However, my decision to wait to uninstall it until tomorrow was probably my worst idea ever. For the next day, my brother told me that he "borrowed" my laptop last night and completed the final race for 100%.

"Idiot," I called him after he stated that fact.

He continued to say that he survived the attack because the Tails Doll that burst forth from the screen wasn't interested in him. It flew off to somewhere else in the house (we slept in separate bedrooms), but he wasn't sure where. I double-checked my laptop; everything was fine, not a bit out of place, except that _Sonic R_ refused to uninstall no matter what I did.

I e-mailed Samantha what he told me. Her reply was as swift as Sonic himself. It turns out that the Tails Doll had cursed their town for months before they discovered that the oracle could chase it away. But until I discovered where the Tails Doll had gone to, she couldn't suggest anything.

I decided to sleep on it. Another dumb idea. When I woke up, I found my one-eyed Tails toy was drenched in blood. The first thing I thought was, "It's gonna take forever to get that all out." My brother won that toy at Six Flags Magic Mountain one summer and let me keep it after it lost its eye. After drenching out as much blood as possible from it in the backyard, I left it there in my room, least my parents started asking more questions then they already were about school. The blood was all caked in when I got back from classes. _Great,_ I thought, _Now I have a bloody toy to play with._ Kudos to you if you get the joke.

As it turned out, at school, a few of my classmates were missing. According to their friends and the teachers, they were found dead in their beds with a Sega Saturn game disk stuffed down their throats. Except for a few. Those few were chopped into lotsa tiny little pieces with a meat cleaver.

It had to be the Tails Doll, that much I knew. But what of my toy? I took it down to the police station for examination. They confirmed that the blood of the students who were butchered was dried up inside my one-eyed Tails toy.

I updated Samantha with this information as soon as I learned. She replied in a panicky tone; I could almost hear her ripping her hair out in mad confusion. There was only one logical explanation, something no one had heard before, something that the Tails Doll had hidden up its sleeve all these years.

I've heard stories of the Tails Doll possessing the players that completed the game, but never an inanimate object.

Yet it was true. The Tails Doll had taken possession of my doll!


	3. Chapter 3

_Tails Doll © Sega and Sonic Team, whether they want him or not._

**CHAPTER 3**

I e-mailed Samantha with my theory immediately. Her response confirmed it. With all the evidence, it seemed my hypothesis was well-founded.

According to her, the Tails Doll first started plaguing her town since a local kid purchased _Sonic R_ a year after the oracle arrived. He completed it 100% and was found dead the next morning. Since then, there were several other murders, which were pinned on the Tails Doll judging from the shapes found in the moonlight. Eventually, the local minister used a combination of the oracle and his own soul to seal the Doll back in the game. Granted, it cost him his life, but the murder spree had ended.

Upon hearing this, I insisted to the police that they keep the toy under lock and key for the night. Even knowing that it would be behind bars, it was still hard for me to get to sleep.

The police called me first thing the next morning. The doll had disappeared and there was a gigantic hole in the wall leading into the outside world. At school, seven more of my classmates had been killed in the same manner as the first set. When I got back that afternoon, the doll, bloodier then ever, was on my front step.

Samantha replied to my update with the only logical solution: I had to bring the doll back to her town, ASAP, to exorcise the spirit of the Tails Doll from it.

How the heck was I supposed to pull that off? I lived in southern California and she in southern Oregon. It didn't take a genius to figure out I couldn't just walk down the street.

Then my break came. My relatives in Washington said they wanted another visit, and when a gas leak closed down school for a week, I was happy enough to go along for the ride. I chained the cursed doll in the back of my parent's car using their old bicycle locks and my dad's power drill and took along my Tails costume. I told my parents I wanted to stop by that town of Sonic lovers we crashed into last trip. My brother asked if it was only for me to see my girlfriend again. I replied with a glare that could freeze water. It was better for my case then a punch to his face.

Just before we left, I e-mailed Samantha one last time to tell her I was on my way. My laptop's wireless Internet did not work without a router broadcasting nearby and I'd never be able to maintain a connection on the highway.

It took two days to get to Oregon. We stayed at a motel the night in-between. I woke up that morning to find the doll beside me in bed, broken chains around its wrists and ankles. At least it used a towel to keep the blood dripping from it from ruining the bed sheets. Five staff members and two visitors suffered the wrath of the Tails Doll that night. I wrenched as much blood out as I could and rechained it in the back of the car before anyone could ask questions.

Eventually, we parked outside the town. I took to the bushes and changed into my Tails outfit. My dad told me we could stay overnight before we had to get back on the road. I was cool with that. If I worked quickly, one night was all I would need.

I grabbed the doll and used the back roads to hurry to Samantha's house, least anyone decided to ask why my toy was caked with blood. I kept it hidden underneath the vest of my costume while I knocked on her door.

She answered and invited me in. There was a minute that was stereotypical of two distant lovers getting together again. After we got ourselves focused on the problem at hand, I showed her the blood-drenched doll.

After a quick snack for energy (more Sonic character cookies and a strawberry yogurt smoothie apiece), she took me and it to the church. I kept the doll under my vest until we got there (I do hate being interrogated). When we arrived, the door and windows were locked. Great. It was only open on Sunday, and today was Tuesday. Samantha told me that the church was open at night while the janitor cleaned it. I told her might as well since the doll only seemed to be deadly at night; during the day, it hung when held like... well, a doll.

She sketched out a rough map of the woods. We locked the doll in a large metal box she had in her basement and dragged it out into the woods, marking our path on the map. We left it out in the woods. Odds were the doll would come looking for us that night. We were close to ridding ourselves of it.

That night was the longest and scariest one of my life.


	4. Chapter 4

_Tails Doll © Sega and Sonic Tea. That's right. Blame it on them._

**CHAPTER 4**

I slept in a sleeping bag in Samantha's room that night. She explained to the single mom she lived with (the mom was dressed in a Vanilla outfit) that I was a good friend of hers and she, along with my parents, allowed me the night on one condition: that I wouldn't do anything perverted with Samantha. God knows how hard it was to resist with that dynamite body she had. It was her idea to sleep together in her bed, but I insisted we listen to her mom this once and took the sleeping bag. It was orange to match my costume. I still wore the fake fox ears with the orange nightshirt she gave me while I caught a few Zs.

About eleven thirty, Samantha woke me up and told me it was time. We got into our costumes (I used the bathroom to give her some privacy) and left the house carrying our map and a large lantern. The full moon overhead shone on the town with silver light.

We followed the map into the woods and found the metal box. We gasped. It was wide open. The lock was fragmented to shown the box had been forced open from the inside.

At that moment from the town, we started to hear screams.

"Oh lord…" I muttered quietly to myself while Samantha and I dashed back. The whole town was in an uproar when we returned. My one-eyed blood-soaked stuffed Tails doll was floating two feet off the ground right in the center of the main plaza. Townsfolk were around the edges, gasping and staring at the demented toy. We broke through the crowd to the front of the pack. Once again, another dumb idea. As soon as we did, the doll turned to face us and looked with one big vacant blue eye that reflected the light of the moon.

"Blast," I muttered. I figured it wouldn't be a good show of character to curse in front of Samantha.

We slowly backed up into the crowd. The townsfolk parted to give us space (some retreated back into their homes) as we took each step with great caution in the direction the exit leading to the church. With each step we took, the doll turned to continue staring us down. I tried not to show fear. I think Samantha was doing the same.

After a minute, we were standing between the Tails Doll and the path to the church. After glancing about with my eyes to make sure the coast was relatively clear sans the world's deadliest toy, I took Samantha's hand and dashed out of the plaza. The Doll reacted and darted after us.

I let go of Samantha when she gained a good amount of speed and we both ran for our lives toward the church. How we managed to keep ahead of the Doll, I'll never know. Maybe the costumes were giving our legs extra power.

It took several minutes to reach the church. In cartoon-like fashion, I got ourselves in and timed the closing of the door so the Tails Doll would run into it. I figured that I needed something to laugh at when I looked at the incident in retrospect.

The inside of the church was much like any other church one might see, only without all the Christian symbols and an altar that consisted of a large podium and the oracle, a large Sonic doll, sitting on top of it. We rushed down the aisle, our footfalls echoing in conjunction with the pounding of the large wooden doors, towards the altar. With each pound, the oak began to splinter.

Samantha grabbed the Sonic doll from the altar as soon as we were in reach of it and passed it to me. She asked me if I had a plan. I said, sorta. I pulled a music CD case out of my pocket. The cover slip read "Sonic Boom of Tunes: Music Spanning the History of Sonic the Hedgehog." I told her I made that CD a couple years back. I had noticed the speakers in the corners of the chamber and I told her to get the CD in whatever sound system this church used and get ready to play it on my signal. She nodded and hurried off.

I turned to the doors, Sonic doll behind my back. Right then, the portals swung open with a crash. I hoped to myself that the city wouldn't charge my parents for the damage to the doors and walls.

The Tails Doll entered in the fashion of a Western bad guy walking into a bar. All the while, its single eye seemed to look right into my soul.

"I have you at last," its voice slithered in my mind (it sounded like the voice I gave giant reptilian monsters when I read books), "There's no escape from me this time."

I looked around the room nervously. It was an act, but I was starting to feel slightly afraid. "Can you feel the sunshine?" was running through my head.

"Your soul is MINE!!" it screamed as it darted at me.

I acted on instinct. With all my might, I threw the Sonic doll down the aisle at it.

It couldn't react fast enough and was took a direct hit. A split second later, there was a large flash of light.

The two dolls collapsed on the floor. The one-eyed Tails, I was glad to see, was totally blood free.

Hovering above them, recovering from the recoil, was the _real_ Tails Doll, just as it appeared in _Sonic R_, only it had taken on the stains from the blood that it had shed from the innocent.

After it recovered, it stared at me as it spoke in my mind. "How dare you… I'll drive you insane with the song!"

"Can you feel the sunshine…" suddenly became loud. Painfully loud. I grabbed my ears in pain, but that didn't help in the slightest. My knees started feeling weak. I didn't know what to do; the Sonic doll was too far away for me to recover it. I was on the verge of screaming, and that would be the end of me.

I suddenly stuck my right hand out. For a moment, I didn't know why. Then a microphone landed in it.

I didn't question how it got there. One doesn't question miracles. I signaled Samantha to start the CD.

I made sure the mike was on as "Open Your Heart" from _Sonic Adventure_ began to play loudly over the church's four speakers. The Tails Doll's plush head reeled around for a few moments and then returned its attention to me. The two songs began to push against each other in my head. The pain the sunshine caused resided some.

When the Tails Doll's music didn't die, I started singing along with my music.

"_Thunder, rain, and lightning_

_Danger, water rising_

_Clamor, sirens wailing_

_It's such a bad sign._

_Shadows of dark creatures_

_Steel clouds floating in the air_

_People run for shelter_

_What's gonna happen to us?_

_All the steps we take_

_All the moves we make_

_All the pain at sake_

_I see the chaos for everyone_

_Who are we? What can we do?_

_You and I are the same in the way_

_That we've got our own styles, that we won't change_

_Yours is filled with evil and mine's not_

_There is no way I can lose_

_Can't hold on much longer_

_But I will never let go_

_I know it's a one-way track_

_Tell me now how long this'll last_

_I'm not gonna think this way_

_Nor will I count on others_

_Close my eyes and feel it burn_

_Now I see what I gotta do_

_Open your ears, it's gonna be alright_"

I stole a quick glance. The Tails Doll was gripping its plush ears in the same pain I was experiencing only half a minute before. It struggled to continue screaming its music in my brain. I decided to press the advantage.

"_Ancient cities blazing_

_Shadows keep attacking_

_Little children crying_

_Confusion, hopeless anger_

_I don't know what it can be_

_But you drive me crazy_

_All your cunning tricks make me sick_

_You won't have it your own way_

_Can't hold on much longer_

_But I will never let go_

_I know it's a one-way track_

_Tell me now how long this'll last_

_I'm not gonna think this way_

_Nor will I count on others_

_Close my eyes and feel it burn_

_Now I see what I gotta do_

_Open your heart, and you will see!_"

The Tails Doll screamed in pain as light began to shine forth from within, kinda like how the memory of Lord Voldemort died at the end of the second Harry Potter movie. When the light was just about to consume the room, the doll exploded in stuffing. It began to rain plush around the room. The music stopped coming from the speakers. "Can you feel the sunshine…" had stopped too, much to my pleasure.

I smiled as I stumbled, hunched over, towards the Sonic and one-eyed Tails doll on the floor. As I reached for them, I suddenly blacked out.

I woke up in my bed at home in southern California, wearing my regular nighttime garb. My one-eyed Tails doll was lying right where I usually left it at night, spotless. I felt very well-rested. My alarm clock read "5:30 AM" and was beeping like crazy. School day? I thought the school was closed. Nevertheless, I got up.

While I was getting ready for school, I told my parents about the gas leak that was supposed to have closed down the school. They said there never was a gas leak and stop trying to cut class.

Then I told them about that second trip to Washington. They replied that there never was a second trip.

Then I told them about Samantha's hometown. They said they never heard of it. We got through Oregon on spring break without any hassles or unscheduled stops.

I couldn't concentrate on my studies that day (which actually wasn't weird). I was too busy thinking about everything that had happened. That town… that costume… the love of my life… had it all been a figment of my imagination? Or had the Tails Doll had its final revenge against me by clearing everyone else's memories, as the stories had often told? I was distraught. Samantha was the one human girl I had ever felt closest to actually being able to spend the rest of my life with, and here I was, doubting that she ever existed.

I was checking my e-mail that afternoon, my heart still heavy, when my brother came in. He was carrying a plastic grocery bag filled with something white and orange. He tossed it on the bed, told me that it was probably mine since it wasn't his, and left.

I looked in the bag and I recognized it instantly. It was my Tails costume! Not a thread was out of place.

I looked through my e-mail and found an e-mail from Samantha. Either I was seeing things or someone had sent a very convincing piece of spam mail.

I double-clicked and opened the mail.

_Yosie,_ I read,

_I hope you remember who I am, for I remember who you are. After you blacked out in my hometown's church, I quickly ran out to you. I knew that the Tails Doll would attempt to hide the memories of our adventures, so I quickly grabbed the oracle and moved your hand to touch it before the remains of the Doll caused me to black out. I recovered in my bed, and when I asked my mother of your condition, she told me that she never heard of you. But I knew the truth. I hope that this e-mail has reached a real person and that you are not a figment of my imagination. I do not believe you are; the Tails Doll can fool the mind, but not the heart._

_I am well, as is the rest of the town. I am the only one that remembers the curse returning to my home. Perhaps it is better that way. Truth is often better disguised as fiction. And even if no one else remembers, I do, and I pray that you will too._

_When I am old enough to set out on my own, I will move down to southern California to be with you. No curse could ever make me forget how much I love you. Once I have, we can finally embrace each other again. Just a few more years now. It'll be over before you know it._

_I hope to see you again._

_Forever yours,_

_Samantha_

I read and re-read the e-mail at least three times to let it sink it. So it did happen… and I could love a girl that nature itself created, a real woman, and not some hottie that I just imagined.

Then I remembered something else. I picked up that heart-shaped frame right where I left it. Samantha's Tikal-like face smiled at me. I felt both extremely happy, and that I was in an episode of _Star Trek: Next Generation_.

And, for the first time that day, at her warm face I smiled back.

THE END


End file.
